The present invention relates to a roller skate chassis and, more particularly, to a unitary, plastic molded chassis which is durable, less expensive to manufacture, and whose performance is very comparable to chasses of conventional construction.
The United States has recently witnessed a tremendous surge in the popularity of roller skating. Although this activity is still just as popular as it probably ever was among children, the recent rise in popularity has primarily been among teenagers and young adults. As a result, roller skates are currently being used for a wider range of purposes, such as dancing and transportation, as well as for the traditional purpose of recreation.
This surge in roller skating popularity has received wide-spread public notoriety, and was referred to on the cover of one weekly news magazine as "Roller Mania". Naturally, there has been a tremendous increase in roller skate sales and in the establishment of skating rinks. Some cities have even established special roller skating lanes, adjacent to heavily travelled pedestrian sidewalks, for the exclusive use of roller skaters and skateboarders who have chosen this alternate mode of transportation. In response to this new found popularity, roller figure skating and speed skating were, for the first time, competitive events in the Pan American games, and it is anticipated that these events will also be part of the 1980 Olympic games.
The increased participation in roller skating has been prompted in part by the development of polyurethane wheels and improved truck and bearing assemblies which have provided new dimensions of speed and manuverability to the sport of roller skating. In the past, however, roller skate foot plates and truck assemblies were typically constructed from metal by the use of casting process. Although these truck assemblies performed adequately, they were relatively expensive to manufacture.
Therefore, paralleling this rise in popularity has been an increasing public demand for less expensive roller skating equipment which nonetheless is durable and offers the same advantages of speed and manuverability as conventional roller skates.